A game's difficulty level is generally controlled by a program. For example, music game apparatuses incorporate programs called operation sequences. Based on the given operation sequence, the music game apparatus issues an instruction, on a monitor, regarding the operation members to be operated and the timing with which this instruction is to be carried out. Furthermore, the game apparatus computes a game result by comparing each instruction timing with the timing with which the selected operation member was actually operated.
Instructions are issued regarding operation members and the instruction timing, for example, as follows. Instruction marks, which correspond to the operation members, are scrolled on a monitor screen toward a timing line, and the instruction mark of a certain operation member is made to coincide with the timing line. The greater the number of changes between operation members and the greater the complexity of the operation timing instructed based on the operation sequence, the higher the game's difficulty level.
In addition, in the case of, for example, a throwing game, the game's difficulty level is generally controlled by using a program to control, for example, a target movement speed, a target size, a target number, and the tolerance of a success determination.